Clarity
by Never.Touch.My.Book
Summary: "Even if I am insane, you make everything clear." {Inspired by Clarity by Zedd} The story of how Finnick and Annie came to be FinnickandAnnie. (Annie's Games through... wherever. WILL NOT go through Mockingjay. That book depresses me. WAS CALLED "SPRING TIDES")
1. Chapter 1: You and Me

**Disclaimer: I do not - nor will I ever - own The Hunger Games. All rights go to Suzanne Collins.**

***Reaping Day: The 70th Hunger Games***

**Annie's POV**

I wake up this morning with a big, wet lick on the cheek. It's Reaping Day, mind you, so I'm naturally already in a bad mood, considering I got almost no sleep last night. The huge thing currently hovering over me is our Golden Retriever although he's about the size of a twelve-year-old boy when he stands on his hind legs. I swat at him but don't actually hit him since my eyes are still closed and I'm trying to go back to sleep. "Surfer, get down!"

Surfer barks, but jumps down off my bed nonetheless. I sigh and throw the quilt off of my body and slowly sit up, knowing I won't be getting any more sleep now. I walk to the kitchen to see Dad has already set our breakfast out on the table.

He turns around from staring out of the window, sensing me behind him and changing the expression on his face from one of worry to one of faux-happiness even though I already saw. He smiles at me cheerfully. "Hey, pal!"

I give him a small smile and sit at the table in the same chair I always sit in. "Hi, Dad." He sits down across from me and I try to refrain from thinking about the one empty seat at our table made for three.

Mom left when I was a little girl. I'm seventeen now and the memory of her is slowly fading away. It's just been Dad and me for as long as I can remember. I don't mind; I've always been Daddy's girl. He takes me to work with him sometimes.

Dad is the most well-known fisherman in District Four. He's one of the several that bring in fish for the Capitol itself, but he's the one in charge of the whole crew. We're pretty well off; we've always had food on the table, never gone hungry.

Dad gives me a look across the small table. "I miss her too." He sighs and looks down, crossing his arms and resting them on the table. "There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about your mother, or wonder what possibly went wrong."

I push my food around my plate. "Maybe it had nothing to do with you." I sigh and put my fork down, pushing my plate away. I know I won't be able to eat anything today anyway. "Can we talk about something else?"

"Are you nervous?"

I scoff to myself. "That's a stupid question, Dad. Of course I'm nervous. I may only have my name in six times, but it's all the same when left to 'the odds.'"

Dad chuckles and smiles. "Not some much the odds as Euphina's long, bird-like fingers."

He's right; Euphina Lovejoy's hands are simply…something different to say the least. Her fingers are long and a very pale aqua color as is the rest of her body. Her nails are always extremely long and decorated with something ocean-themed, and she's always were big, chunky rings in the shape of sea creatures. Last year, her ring was a starfish and the year before that, it was some kind of tropical fish with a name that has slipped my mind since then.

I laugh and nod along. Dad always knows how to cheer me up. That's why we work so well. "I'm going to feed Surfer and then I'll get dressed." I stand up and kiss him on the cheek, walking back to my room as he cleans up my plate of untouched food.

Surfer follows me from the kitchen to my room as I pour his food into the little red bowl by my dresser. He starts eating as I look through my tiny closet for my Reaping dress.

It's a simple, v-neck dress that once belonged to my mother. It's navy at the top and fades into a lighter blue at the bottom. Dad has always liked this dress; he says it makes me look almost exactly like Mom. It makes him teary-eyed and then I have to hug him and comfort him through it.

I put it on and carefully brush through my messy brown curls. That's a trait I get from Dad. I have Mom's green eyes and freckles splashed across my nose and cheeks. Dad says I have her nose too, but I can't remember if it's true or not. When I finish brushing, I skillfully braid my hair into a fishtail, the classic for most girls in District Four.

When I'm finished braiding, I slip my sandals on and walk back out to the living room. "I'm ready."

Dad looks up and I can immediately see the tears in his eyes. "You look beautiful, Annie." I hug him tightly, not wanting to let go of my safety blanket quite yet. I'm always a nervous wreck on Reaping Day, although I try not to show it. "I guess we should go." He stands up and walks with me to the town square. "When this is all over, how about we go for a swim? Just like old times."

I smile at him. He's always trying to cheer me up on Reaping Day. And every time he promises we'll do something afterwards, we do it. "Sounds great, Dad."

"You and me, pal?"

I smile. "You and me, Dad." And we do our special handshake that we've done since I was five. He pulls me into a big hug. I hug him back, but let go too soon because I have to get my finger pricked and then go to my assigned section with the other seventeen-year-olds.

As I stand in the pen and the other girls slowly file in, I look around nervously. I see a crying twelve-year-old holding onto their mother for dear life. I see the boys filing into their pen too; although, a few of them file in a little too quickly than the rest and I know they're Careers. I see a few girls from my year in school standing in the row in front of me, but I'm too nervous to say anything.

Then I look up to the stage guarded by about ten Peacekeepers. The mayor is talking to a few people and I look to the right of the stage and see this year's mentors for the games: Mags and the one-and-only Finnick Odair.

Mags is a sweet old lady I've seen around town only a handful of times. She was alive before the First Rebellion and she lived through one of the very first Games and came out as the victor.

Finnick Odair isn't old nor is he the sweetest person you could ever meet, or so I've been told. I've never actually met him, but he seems like a total jerk. He's about nineteen, but he has more girls crawling all over him than he knows what to do with. He tends to stick to the more colorful, surgically-enhanced girls that the Capitol provides as his toys. He won the 65th Hunger Games because one of his sponsors sent him a trident – _the_ most expensive gift a tribute has ever been sent in the arena. He trapped his opponents in a net and speared them with his trident. After he got that gift, it didn't take long at all for him to win. I pity the person he has to mentor this year.

Euphina Lovejoy looks as ridiculous as always. This year, she has opted for an extremely bright, aqua hair color to match the pale aqua skin. From where I'm standing, I can see this year's ring is a big, pink seahorse. This woman drives me crazy with the ocean theme. Not only with the rings, but this year, she is also wearing a puffy blue dress with material arranged to look like waves across the top and assorted sparkly pink fish on the bottom. I can also see that she's gotten a new golden tattoo on her wrist in the shape of – that's right – a trident. She's making it painstakingly obvious about her little crush on Finnick. Maybe she can be his next meaningless fling.

My attention flickers to the center of the stage as the Mayor gives the same speech as every year – uprising, war, Treaty, blah, blah, blah – and I completely ignore everything he says, having already committed the whole thing to memory. They play the same video and Euphina says the same old, "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor."

I stare expectedly as she says "Ladies first!" and walks over to the bowl that has my name in it a total of six times. She swirls her hand around the bowl to create suspense and pulls out a single piece of white paper.

My entire body freezes up and I know I haven't heard her correctly. My heart starts pounding in my ears as I see everyone around me take several steps back as if being reaped is somehow contagious and they'll die if they even get near me. I cautiously take one step forward, fearing my knees may buckle and my legs will give out. I think I may just pass out.

But I don't and walk up to the stage slowly. The stairs seem to go on forever and I think I may fall down before I can make it up them. I take my spot next to Euphina and stare out at the crowd. I can see Dad shaking violently in the background and I know he's sobbing his eyes out.

Euphina asked for applause, but I can't hear anything but the pounding of my heart and I think everyone else may hear it too. Euphina moves over to the boys' bowl and pulls out a different slip with my future district partner's name on it. "Seaton Neith," she calls out. _Good,_ I think. _I have no idea who that is._

But my relief suddenly turns to terror as a boy walk out of the fifteen-year-old section. My terror isn't because he's young. It's because he looks like one of the eighteen-year-olds that normally volunteer in District Two. He's handsome and has muscle that must make up two-thirds of his body weight. He will definitely be a Career. _And he'll definitely kill you,_ I think bitterly.

Euphina makes us shake hands and then leads us into the Justice Building to say our final goodbyes before we get on the train that will take me to my doom.

* * *

**My first Hunger Games fanfic! Yay, I'm so excited! Let me know what you think so far. I didn't get very far with this chapter, but the next will be much longer. Promise. Review!**

**xoxox, Victoria**


	2. Chapter 2: The Only Exception

**Yay! Chapter two! Finally! I've made you wait a little while, but I hope this makes up for it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games…sadly.**

***Shortly After the Reaping of the 70****th**** Hunger Games***

**Annie's POV**

I'm immediately shuffled into a fairly large room in the Justice Building and two Peacekeepers stand guard outside my door to make sure I don't try to escape. I wish I could.

I sit still on the velvet couch, staring down and twiddling my fingers. I can hear the Peacekeepers outside talking to someone. "Three minutes." And they send my father in.

He immediately takes a seat beside me on the couch. I look at him and I can see the trails of tears rolling down his cheeks and a lump grows in my throat as I feel my own eyes well up with tears.

"Annie, you can do this. You have to try. Please. You're the only thing I have left in this world. Please, please, please." He begs. I can see fresh tears roll down his face and he reaches out to wipe a few off of mine. "I can't lose you too."

I don't know what to say. Only one thing comes to mind. "I love you, Dad."

"No, don't do that. You are not saying goodbye. I won't accept it. We're in this together. You and me, right?" He looks too hopeful, and I can't bring myself to tell him I'll probably be dead the first night. I can't stand that hopeful gleam he has in his eyes. I give him a sad smile.

"You and me, Dad." He pulls me into a hug and squeezes me tight, probably coming to the realization that he may never see me again.

"I love you too, Annie." Dad kisses my forehead before the Peacekeepers come in to take him away. He stands up before they reach him and hands me something I haven't seen in forever, the last piece I have of Mom: her pearl necklace. "Your token." And then they drag him away.

I look down at the necklace as more tears fall before I'm full-on sobbing, worried that if I don't stop soon I'll make myself sick. But I don't stop. Quite the opposite, I just cry harder. I cry and cry and cry some more. Eventually, my body can't take anymore and I'm heaving up stomach acid on the linoleum floor of the Justice Building.

The Peacekeepers come in and take me away as soon as I've recomposed myself. They escort the five of us – Finnick, Mags, Euphina, Seaton, and me – all the way to the train. As soon as I've stepped on the train, the door's shut behind me and there's no going back.

Euphina gets an Avox to show Seaton and me to our rooms and tells us to clean up before dinner. The Avox leads us down a hallway and gestures to two rooms across from each other. I go to the door on the right as Seaton steps into his room. I look around the new room.

There's a bed on one wall with a dark blue duvet as well as a fishing net draped across it perfectly. I see a few panels along the wall labeled "food" and "clothes". You gotta love the Capitol. I open another door and walk into the bathroom. There's a glass shower in one corner and a toilet on the opposite wall. I turn to the right and see a marble countertop with a sink and mirror.

I set my mother's necklace on the counter and strip down to nothing and step into the shower. I try to figure out the knobs and buttons on the wall, and once I've gotten a steady stream of warm water to come out and I've been lathered head to toe with a soap that smells like the familiar ocean's of Four, I let the day's events sink in.

I must have been in the shower for a while, because Euphina comes knocking on the bathroom door to tell me dinner starts in five minutes. Once I turn the water off and step out, I'm blown off until I'm completely dry again.

I gather my clothes and the necklace and step into the bedroom once again. I throw the clothes down in a heap on the floor and put the necklace on the table beside the bed. I search through the panel on the wall for an outfit before just going for one with a pair of shorts and a simple white shirt. A small square in the wall opens up and the clothes are lying there, perfectly folded and crisp. I slip them on and feel a little disturbed by how they're the perfect size for me.

I shrug it off and put my shoes back on, and then I walk out to the dining room. I notice I'm the last one there and now I have to sit between Seaton and Finnick. _Yay_, I think bitterly. I take my seat and look at Seaton's plate, piled high with food and he's eating like he's never been fed in his whole fifteen years.

Mags motions to the table of meats and vegetables and delicacies I've never seen in my life. "Help yourself."

I put a few things on my plate that I'm familiar with and stay away from the strange stuff. I eat slowly, taking time to digest everything and not eating it all at once.

"Such good manners. I think you could learn something." Euphina gives a pointed look at Seaton.

Finnick clears his throat. "So after dinner, we'll move to the sitting room and watch the recaps of the Reapings. We can talk strategy and see who will make good allies and who will not. I'm sure Seaton would like to be in the Career pack this year, but what about you, Ms. Cresta?" He looks at me with those eyes that every girl has fallen for – with one exception, me.

"No thanks. I'll probably just stay by myself. I'm not too keen on arrogant people." I give him a look that tells him I'm not joking.

His face immediately hardens. "Well, we might have a work cut out for us this year, Mags. Cresta's proving to be a real pain in the ass."

I shrug nonchalantly. "Takes one to know one."

"Don't test me, Cresta. You don't know what I've been through. When you're in that arena, I'm your only hope for sponsors. So unless you want to die, I suggest you play nice."

"Oh, of course. I'm sorry, Finnick. Finnick, can you ever forgive me?" I mock his admirers before putting on a straight face again. "You don't scare me."

He shrugs. "Fine, suit yourself. You're going to die anyway." Then he gets up from the table and stalks to his room.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Euphina stands up. "Well, who wants to watch the Reapings?"


	3. Chapter 3: Drunken Behavior

**So I've been procrastinating. Sorry.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or any of the characters. The only rights I have are to the OCs. That is all.**

**Annie's POV**

We all move into the living room to watch the recaps of the Reapings. When Finnick finishes his temper tantrum, he joins us. He had missed the first two Districts and Seaton and Mags fill him in from opposite sides of me as Euphina giggles to herself from her spot next to him on the other couch.

District 1 has the same type of tributes as every year, besides the obvious fact that they're different people, if you could even call them that. The boy volunteers and walks up to the stage with a stupid smirk on his face and I know just from the way he walks that he's really cocky, perhaps more cocky than Finnick. He's about seventeen and he's tall, but doesn't have much muscle. He has dark brown, almost black hair and skin that is possibly lighter than mine, and I'm the fairest skinned person in all of District 4. The girl steps out of the fourteen year old section, but she's prettier than anyone in 4 when they're fourteen – except maybe Finnick, but his personality gets in the way. Velvet is blonde and almost as tan as Finnick and probably has the personality to rival his.

This year, quite like every year, District 2 has cocky, muscular Careers who both volunteer eagerly. Nero is the male from 2 and as he steps out on stage, I can see his muscular build is one of his advantages. He could probably rip the head from my body with nothing but his bare hands and a smirk on his face. For a Career, he's also quite attractive and I know that will be another one of his advantages. Vesta, the girl volunteer, is a sixteen-year-old who is almost as muscular as Nero is. She's brunette and as she stands on stage, she holds a sadistic smile on her freckled face and as they shake hands, I notice she almost towers over him.

"We definitely have to watch out for her," Seaton says nervously. Finnick and Mags both nod as we watch District 3 come up.

There isn't much to note about 3 this year, and before I know it, District 4 is on the screen. I can see the look of shock on my face as I walk up to the stage, but I'm proud to say that I masked it better than I had thought. I thought I had probably turned green as I walked up there, trying to hold down everything I had eaten in the past few days.

"Good job, Annie." Mags smiles at me. I return the smile, happy with how it turned out.

I tune out the Reapings until District 7 when Eldridge, a dark-skinned eighteen-year-old boy, steps up on stage and winks right at the camera. Something about this sets me off and I make a mental note to stay as far away from him as possible.

Districts 8 through 10 are the same as 3 and I disregard the boy from 11. The girl, however, Cherry, makes an impression. She's lean and looks quick on her feet. Her face doesn't falter once and she appears strong, for a fourteen-year-old. Her look holds to her name, because she has fiery red hair and fair skin. I think I might want an alliance with this girl.

The same goes for District 12. The boy looks malnourished and my heart aches for him, because I know he'll probably die in the bloodbath at the Cornucopia. The girl beside him, Ember, no matter that they are around the same age, looks a lot stronger than any of the rest. She's thirteen but holds herself as if she's a woman, and in her family, perhaps she is. She's fair skinned as well, but unlike the boy, who has olive skin and dark hair, she has blonde hair and when the camera zooms in closer, I can see her bright blue eyes as well.

The anthem plays and the Capitol seal is shown, then the screen fades to black before Euphina cuts it off.

"Well what do we think?" Finnick asks, making a point to not look at me and looks between Seaton and Mags instead.

I speak anyway. "_I_ think that I want in an alliance this year."

Finnick looks taken aback as if he didn't think I would actually speak to him. "That's great. I think I may be able to pull a few strings and get you in with the Car—"

"Don't even think about finishing that sentence," I say. "I don't want in with the Careers. They're ruthless and brutal. Not my type of people." Finnick looks confused so I elaborate. "I want Cherry and Ember."

Finnick scoffs, but Mags gives me a knowing smile as if she knew this was going to happen all along. "That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard. They'll just get killed the first day."

"Don't underestimate people you don't know, Finnick Odair. Those girls could surprise you. One of them could pull a Johanna Mason for all you know! Ember looked stronger than all of the other tributes combined when it comes to sanity."

He waves that off. "An act for the cameras."

"And Cherry? She looks smarter than half of the people I know." I look him up and down to make my point.

"Didn't we have this discussion earlier? You don't know me, Cresta."

"Good. I wouldn't want to. Y'know, maybe your attitude problem is the reason nobody really likes you."

"Plenty of people like me."

"No, plenty of people like your face. If they got to know you, I'm pretty sure they would be repulsed."

"You do not, nor will you ever, know what I've been through, Annie Cresta. You have no idea everything that I've been through since I won my Games. You have no idea what real loss is all about."

I bite my lip and stand up. I knew Finnick had lost his parents after his Games, the whole District knew! All of Panem knew! It had been heartbreaking for a lot of people. My dad was actually an old friend of Finnick's mom back when they were my age. But Finnick had no idea what he was talking about.

I make my way through the car without saying anything as I walk to my room. I pass through the dining car again and stop momentarily to grab a bottle of some brown liquid that I only hope could be alcoholic.

_Screw Finnick._ I think as I make my way into my room. _Screw Finnick, screw these Games, and screw the Capitol. _With those thoughts in my mind, I open the bottle and take a big swig.

**Finnick's POV**

My jaw tenses as I watch Annie walk to her room. How dare that girl think she knows me! She's getting on my nerves with all of her talk about how conceited I am. I sit back down on the couch with a huff of annoyance.

Euphina gets up and walks to a different car mumbling something about manners. Seaton looks very uncomfortable in his own skin right about now and Mags is looking at me with a look I despise on her face. That look, I've only seen that look about three others times since I've known Mags. It's a look that says I have totally and royally disappointed her.

Mags comes over to sit down beside me. She starts talking in a soft voice. "Oh, Finnick… You're so wrong."

I look down, refusing to meet her gaze. Seaton gets up, saying something fake along the lines of, "I am so tired. Goodnight." Then he rushes off to his room.

"Finnick, I am so disappointed in you. But you already knew that, didn't you?"

I mumble an agreement.

"Annie's mother left when she was just a little girl."

Leave it to Mags to know these things. Mags knows everything that goes on in our District. "It's not the same, Mags."

She sighs. "No, I suppose it's not." She adds, "But you always knew your parents loved you. Annie's mom _chose_ to leave her."

I rest my elbows on my knees and put my head in my hands. "I'm a total screw up."

"No, _hijo_. You didn't know. But you know what to do now." Mags pats my back and stands up to leave. "Goodnight, Finnick."

I stand up beside her and kiss her head. "Goodnight, Mags. Sleep well."

She walks down the hallway to her room as I think about how I'm supposed to fix this so that I can focus on bringing one of my tributes home.

I walk down the hall and knock on Annie's door. About five seconds later, Annie comes stumbling to it and throwing it open. She narrows her eyes at me. "What do you want?" she slurs.

I can smell the liquor coming off of her. Oh god, she's drunk.

"Annie, I came to apologize."

"S'okay, you're not the first person to remind me I'm unwanted." She stumbles back to the bed, leaving the door wide open and I take it as a sign to follow her. I walk over to the panel on the wall and click on the button to send in some aspirin and water. She'll need this when she wakes up in the morning.

I put the aspirin on the bedside table and sit down on the bed next to her. "Annie, this isn't appropriate. You shouldn't be drinking. It's not going to help anything."

"It numbs the pain," she says as she takes another swig and grimaces at the burn in her throat.

"Temporarily. And it definitely won't help when we get to the Remake Center tomorrow and you have a hangover from Hell."

Annie gives a big sigh. "You're right. Here." She hands me the bottle and lies down on the bed.

I set the bottle on the table too, and then I look at her sprawled out on the bed with her eyes closed and her brown hair splayed out around her. She's actually kind of beautiful, not that I would tell anyone.

"You should get some sleep. You have a long day tomorrow and the drinking has just made it even longer." She gets under the covers as I stand up. "Night, Annie."

She calls out to me as I reach for the door. "Hey, Finnick?"

"Yeah, Annie?" I turn around and see a lazy smile on her face.

"Y'know, you're kind of cute...when your face isn't screwing it up."

I laugh and shake my head. "Thanks, Annie." I walk out and shut the door behind me before heading to my room for another night of nightmares and sleeplessness.


End file.
